Remember the first time you heard Davidian?
Metal has never been the same since Machine Head
unleashed that unbelievable slab of thrashy, grooveriddled noise, and 25 years on, that track and the album
that bore it have lost none of their potency or influence.
It’s no surprise to find that as Robb Flynn looks to
rebuild Machine Head in the wake of last year’s
turbulent breakdown, he’s also taking the chance to
celebrate Burn My Eyes, an album that has meant so
much to him, his band and, of course, millions of metal
fans around the world.
It spurred us to dedicate this issue to the year that
changed metal forever. 1994 can be credited as the year
that brought us nu metal, established extreme metal on
the world stage, introduced us to the likes of Marilyn
Manson, Rammstein and In Flames, and not to mention
establishing legacies for the likes of Nine Inch Nails,
Pantera, Soundgarden… shit, the list just goes on,
doesn’t it? Trust us: by the time you’ve read every page
of this month’s magazine, you’ll be searching for your
old Discman, breaking into your mum’s attic to find
your stash of Pogs and trading Panini stickers with
whoever you can find.
Cheers, fuckers, and…

WRITER
A Hammer legend, Malcolm
has been at the frontlines of
metal journalism for over
three decades – in fact, if the
stories are to be believed, he’s
the man who coined the term
‘thrash metal’. Although
whatever happened to that
subgenre is anyone’s guess…

TRAVIS SHINN

PHOTOGRAPHER
Our West Coast tog has
become a first-choice snapper
for many of the US bands you
will see in Hammer, and this
issue is no exception – he shot
this month’s Machine Head
cover feature! He also shot a
ton of their promo pics, so they
obviously like him. Fair fucks.

DANNII LEIVERS

WRITER
Our Dannii has become one
of Metal Hammer’s most loyal
and reliable scribes in the
years we’ve had her, and
there’s rarely a week that
goes by where she isn’t seen
raising horns and beaming
grins at metal gigs all over
the place. Warrior.

metalhammer.com 3

july 2019

16 NEW YEARS DAY

38 machine head

CONT
FRONT ROW

8 Find out how home of metal is
honouring the mighty Sabbath.
10 Um, dois, três... max cavalera
answers 15 of your questions.
14 Worship at the metal AF record
collection of Zeal & Ardor’s
manuel gagneux.
16 ASH COSTELLO asks herself:
what would Marilyn Manson do?
20 We go deep in the studio with
Norwegian black metallers 1349.
22 How LAMB OF GOD’s Laid To Rest
became absolutely massive.
30 Welcome to the Satanic Dutch
black metal of asagraum.

70 therapy?
4 metalhammer.com

10 max cavalera

90 baroness

FEATURES

38 It seemed like it was all over for
machine head, but you can’t
keep Robb Flynn down…
46 We revisit MH’s explosive debut,
burn my eyes.
50 We celebrate the other legendary
albums of 1994, from grunge to
black metal and beyond.
58 Recorded at the infamous Tate
house, NINE INCH NAILS’ The
Downward Spiral reached haunting
new industrial depths.
64Three members of emperor
were in prison by the time In The
Nightside Eclipse was released.

july 2019

64 emperor

ENTS
70 therapy? were just three punks
from Northern Ireland. So how did
Troublegum conquer the world?
76 B
reaking away from Iron Maiden,
bruce dickinson knew Balls To
Picasso had to succeed.
82 W
OODSTOCK ’94 was the mud bath
that baptised the alternative nation.

ALBUM REVIEWS

90 Savannah hue metal champions
baroness go for glory.
92 CAVE
IN make a last stand for late
bassist Caleb Scofield.
98 Gaahl makes an unexpected yet
great return with gaahls wyrd.

Of Rock. On a stage made famous by
poodle-haired, spandex and leatherwearing rock behemoths, a shavenheaded, shorts-wearing, tattooed Phil
Anselmo stands, solemnly, bottle of
booze in hand, as tens of thousands
of metalheads look on. It became an
image that perfectly encapsulated
the drastic change that metal was
undergoing: musically, aesthetically
and even culturally. While Pantera
didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite steal the show that day
(see page 70 for that unexpected story),
their ascension to becoming the
standard-bearers for heavy music
was continuing apace. Metal was in
the midst of an evolution. It would
never be the same again.

metalhammer.com 7

THE HOT TOPIC

HOMECOMING

Black Sabbath: you may
have heard of them…

Birmingham’s Home Of Metal initiative reveal more details
of their epic celebration of Black Sabbath
WORDS: MERLIN ALDERSLADE

designed to celebrate more than four
decades of metal history and its
impact on the UK, Home Of Metal has
proudly stood as our country’s most
significant monument to heavy
music’s importance to British culture.
Now they’re unveiling their biggest
celebration yet: a “blockbuster”
exhibition honouring the Godfathers
Of Metal themselves, Black Sabbath.
“The exhibition celebrates Black
Sabbath from the perspective of their
fans,” notes the official press release,
“to show the impact and cultural legacy
of the band as pioneers of heavy metal,
and to celebrate this unique, significant
part of British music heritage.”
Given that Home Of Metal is based
in Birmingham, the birthplace of our
favourite genre, it makes perfect sense
to celebrate the band that started it all
as the 50 Years Of Metal celebrations
we kicked off this year continue apace.
“My mission has always been to
create a permanent visitor attraction
celebrating the Home of Metal,” says
HOM founder Lisa Meyer, “but I’ve had
a lot of pushback from the powers-that-

“BLACK SABBATH
ARE THE ULTIMATE
OUTSIDERS”
8 metalhammer.com

Fan collections like this one
feature in the Home Of Metal

Lisa Meyer: working tirelessly to
make sure heavy metal is celebrated

“The exhibition looks

be in Birmingham, claiming that it’d
only attract old white men and it’d be
a very small, ‘niche’ audience. So I set
out to prove them wrong by capturing
portraits of Sabbath fans from around
the world to show just how vibrant and
diverse the genre is. Black Sabbath sold
more than a million tickets on their
final tour and played 74 shows around
the world – that’s pretty significant.
This Home of Metal exhibition focuses
on celebrating 50 years of Black
Sabbath, their legacy and the fans.”
With Black Sabbath officially ending
their illustrious, near-five-decade
career in 2017, there has been plenty of
time for reflection on the legacy created
by Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer
Butler and Bill Ward, who almost
singlehandedly invented metal as we
know it. For this event, however, Lisa
felt it was important to focus in on the
importance of Sabbath’s homeland and
the impact it had on their music.

specifically at Black Sabbath’s
relationship to Birmingham in the
60s,” she notes. “The multitudes of
terraced houses, located within
walking distance of the many factories
steeped in the city’s metal-bashing
industry with a backdrop dominated by
the bombsites left untouched since the
Second World War. These bombsites
became playgrounds for Aston’s
children; for them, rubble and partial
buildings were simply the natural,
dreary backdrop to their home.
“We look at the alchemy of Sabbath,”
she continues, “examining what each
original member uniquely brought to
the band, whether it be Ozzy’s
showmanship, Geezer’s lyrics, Tony’s
downtuned guitar playing or Bill’s
jazz-inspired drumming. But, equally,
we celebrate the fans, and through
their collections and stories, we
celebrate a global community and the
camaraderie of metal.”
Lisa is no stranger to honouring
Sabbath, having presented Tony Iommi
with the Golden God award at the
Metal Hammer Golden Gods in 2017 –

10 THINGS
WE LEARNED
THIS MONTH
What’s been blowing
our tiny brains
IS IT ACTUALLY DOWNLOAD
NEXT MONTH?

It is, isn’t it? How the fuck did that
happen? We’re not ready to say bye to
Slayer yet, you bastards! Arghhh!

WE NEED TO SEE THOSE NEW
’KNOT MASKS

Who knows how Mick’s will have evolved
this time… oh…

BABYMETAL ARE PROPERLY BACK

New single! Fewer members! It’s all
booting off for our favourite Japanese
metal phenomenon. They’re over in the
UK this summer, too.

Lisa and Tony at Hammer’s Golden
Gods. We’re still hungover.

something she says was “terrifying,
but a true honour.”
“Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill have
all been incredibly supportive of Home
Of Metal and the exhibition, as have
their teams,” she says. “There’s been
a lot of hard work going on behind the
scenes to root out old stage costumes
and other key items. They love their
fans and so want to make sure this is
a great experience for people visiting.
I think they are appreciative of being
recognised and celebrated in this way.
Tony and his manager, Ralph, have
been particularly supportive of Home
Of Metal, from the very first exhibition
in 2011. Despite all the success the band
has achieved, they are all genuinely

Babymetal. Yes, this is Babymetal.
Do not adjust your magazine

humble guys with an incredible sense of
humour. They’re just great Brummies!”
There’s plenty more to come from
Home Of Metal too, with more
galleries, exhibitions and special
projects planned in the coming weeks
and months. For Lisa, it’s all about
showing the world why heavy metal
can finally start getting the credit
it deserves.
“Black Sabbath famously received
terrible press in the early part of their
career,” she points out. “They are the
ultimate outsiders and have always
done things on their own terms. Heavy
metal embraces the marginalised, so
perhaps it’s is difficult for mainstream
society to embrace us. Metal has never
been fashionable so it’s never been
out of fashion! It’s more than just
music: it’s a way of life for millions,
and once you’re a fan you’re always
a fan. It gets passed on from generation
to generation. Long may it thrive.”
We couldn’t have put it better.

SATANISM IS COOL AGAIN

According to new movie Hail Satan?. At
least we’ll get some good new memes.

SABATON LOVE BOATS

Especially big war ones, according to
recent new video, Bismarck.

GLASTO IS METAL

Gojira! Venom Prison! Employed To Serve!
Glasto is fully embracing the heavy and
we are, as the kids put it, here for it.

When will the new Killer Be Killed
album be done?
Brennon Hayes, Facebook

“We have already made some demos.
We’ve got about 12 new songs done, it
sounds killer and way more involved.
Troy [Sanders] wasn’t as involved in the
first one, it was mostly me and Greg
[Puciato] in the beginning, but I’m a big
Mastodon fan, a big Troy fan, so I want
him involved, so now he’s bringing a lot
to the table. He wrote a song that
sounds like old Judas Priest, it’s killer.”

world but we have to change with it. I’m
not one of those guys who talks about
‘the glory days’ of metal – we’re living
them right now!”
Do you have any more side-projects
in mind for the future?
Eddie Cross, email

“I have a couple of things I’d like to do.
I’d like to do a thing with my kids only,
they’re both really good musicians and
we could be a killer power trio like
Rush-meets-Venom! Ha ha! That’s one
idea that would be cool. I love the idea
of doing a really, really heavy project,
something that’s completely on the
extreme side of metal with some crazy
extreme guys that’s heavy as fuck.
I’ve also had an idea for 20 years to do
a full-on dub record from Jamaica, get
people like Adrian Sherwood involved,
Ghetto Priest and some cool dub guys.
I don’t care if nobody buys it.”

Has your concept of heavy metal been
the same since you started your
career, back in the early days of
Sepultura, or changed?
Ricardo Tavares Da Silva, Facebook

“It’s been the same. I’m still a fan at
heart, I feel like I’m still 15 years old
again listening to heavy metal – I never
grew up and I don’t want to! I don’t care
how much people give me shit for it,
I just ignore them. What changes is the

10 metalhammer.com

Pizza or burger?
Andrew Stewart, email

“It’s a good question! We eat pizza
every night after shows so I’m gonna go
with burger. Especially if it’s In-N-Out
Burger like we have in The States.”
We had a Return To Roots. It was
amazing. When are we getting
a Return To Chaos A.D.?
Shannon Nearl, email

“We’re doing Beneath The Remains
mixed with Arise in South America and
Russia, we’ll see how that goes. Chaos is
one of my favourite records, so I’d love to
play the entire record, it’d be amazing.
It’s the most diverse, good songwriting,
recorded in a castle, it was fantastic.”
What’s the craziest gig you’ve played?
Jenny McAlpine, Facebook

“One of them has to be last year in
Poland at Pol’and’Rock [with Soulfly].
There was 500,000 people and it was my
birthday, so it was all kinds of things,
like them singing Happy Birthday in
Polish. The promoter gave me a special
t-shirt with my birthday on the back.
That show, coupled with opening for
Black Sabbath in Hyde Park in 2014,
because you can’t touch that. I was in
awe. Jimmy Page was walking around
– I must’ve died and gone to heaven!”
What is your favourite non-metal
album to date?
Rae Lovell, Facebook

Soulfly: keeping Max busy
until he does his dub record

“I have to go with Dead Can Dance
– Spiritchaser; it’s by far my favourite

soulfly: press/Char Tupper

Max Cavalera is a living metal
legend. It’s as simple as that. Through
redefining metal with Sepultura and
since kicking ass with the likes of
Soulfly, Nailbomb, Cavalera Conspiracy
and metal supergroup Killer Be Killed,
he’s remained one of our world’s most
prolific mainstays. In August, he’ll be
bringing Soulfly to Derbyshire for this
year’s Bloodstock festival, but in the
meantime, how will he fare fending
off questions about fast food, crazy
gigs and turning the big 5-0?

max cavalera

Max Cavalera:
49 going on 15

metalhammer.com 11

really non-metal record, I listen to it
all the time. It’s a great, moody record.
Really weird, tribal sounds. Lisa
[Gerrard], the singer, has an amazing
voice. That’s a fantastic record.”

Buy this man a beer – we
need more Max adventures!

After decades of touring, how do you
maintain your drive?
Alex James Beau Adamson, Facebook

“Don’t grow up. Don’t give in. Try not
to let the politics of music get you
down because they can get you down
sometimes. I think the purity of the
passion for music itself is the best, and
what I get every night from the crowd
is utterly amazing, it’s like a drug. I still
get nervous before shows. Having the
best show is the best feeling and having
the worst show is the worst.”
With the world being in such a state
of confusion and decline, where do
you see your lyrical direction going
for future material?
Brian Maloney, email

“The more screwed up the world gets,
the better the music gets, unfortunately.
If we keep electing people like Trump
and these crazy guys that are
brainwashing thousands of people and
fucking the world up, we’ll keep writing
protest songs and controversial songs.
There’s a song on the new Soulfly
record, Blood On The Street, that’s about
police brutality. It’s a true story about
a Navajo Indian girl who was murdered
by police and nothing happened to the
policeman. It’s a crazy story.”
Will you please get Nailbomb back for
another album?
Huw Thomas Eggington, Facebook

“I hope. I wish. I wish I could convince
Alex [Newport] to do another one, but
I don’t think it’s gonna happen. Alex is
very hardheaded. We got the live shows,
which is great, I hope we can bring that
to Europe. As far as new music I have to
go with the other projects.”
Do you feel any anxiety about your
future now that metal isn’t as
‘fashionable’ as it once was?
John McPartland, Facebook

“I think we survived the worst. We
survived disco, we survived grunge,
which were the most threatening times
for metal. I think grunge was the worst
time for metal, which was right around
Chaos A.D. Grunge was all people wanted
to know about; metal wasn’t cool any
more. If we can survive that, we can
survive anything. We’re tough. We’re
hard to kill. You can survive anything

“WE CAN PUKE ON
EDDIE VEDDER”
12 metalhammer.com

fuckin freaky. I don’t know how he does
it. It freaks me out every night. Any
night I can expect something different
out of him.”
and then puke on Eddie Vedder, just to
make a clear statement! Ha ha ha!”

How will you celebrate your
50th birthday?
Kieron Mulherne, Facebook

Have you got plans to write another
book? I loved your first one!
Rachel Branson, email

“I’ve got to collect more adventures,
I’ve got to do more shit. Nowadays it’s
a little slower because I’m not drinking
anymore, so the adventures are less
trouble. Maybe I should go back to
drinking to see if I can get more
adventurous shit going on. There’s an
idea about just tour stories. We may do
that and that goes back to all the old
Sepultura stories. There’s a lot of stuff
I didn’t put in my book that I can put in
a tour stories book, that’s something
I’d like to read as a fan of any musician.
I bet Ozzy has thousands of great stories.
I have a few that people haven’t heard.”
What skill that one of your bandmates
has do you wish you had?
Emma Vaughan, email

“I always wanted to be a drummer. My
son plays drums amazingly, so I get
jealous of that. He does something
really unique that I’ve not seen with
any drummer; he doesn’t play the same
beat every night on different parts of
songs, he changes every day, which is

“The plan was to go to Nicaragua
because the President’s son is a fan, but
the rebels are taking over Nicaragua
now. It’s fucked up. My birthday
celebrations are on hold, I’ve gotta see
what happens. Otherwise I’ll have to
play a gig. My 49th was at Pol’and’Rock,
I wouldn’t mind doing that again. Next
time I could be on tour at a big festival.
I’ll book it just for that.”
Do you believe any conspiracy
theories at all?
Sam Reese, email

“Yeah, yeah. The JFK assassination
through to the Trump presidency to
stuff like Hitler being fascinated with
religious artefacts and trying to find
the holy spear… there’s a lot of crazy
shit in the world, so I do believe some.
UFOs, I don’t know if I buy 100% into
that, but I do believe there’s a lot of
crazy shit in the world that we don’t
even know about, but it’s happening.”

The LATEST SOULFLY ALBUM,
RITUAL, IS OUT NOW VIA
NUCLEAR BLAST. SOULFLY PLAY
BLOODSTOCK IN AUGUST